Radio frequency identification system with write broadcast capability

ABSTRACT

A Write Broadcast system and method uses a base station to write sent data to all or some selected number (sub group) of tags in a base station field simultaneously. By unselecting the tags that have been successfully written to, and requesting a response from the remaining tags in the field (or sub group), the system determines, by receiving a response to the request, that there are tags in the field (sub group) that were unsuccessfully written to. Another Write Broadcast signal is sent to these tags. The system is useful for quickly (simultaneously) “stamping” information on the tag memory of a large number of tags in the field of the base station.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser.No. 09/382,382 filed Aug. 24, 1999, which is a continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 08/694,606 filed Aug. 9, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No.5,942,987 issued Aug. 24, 1999, which in turn is a continuation-in-partof application Ser. No. 08/303,965 filed Sep. 9, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No.5,673,037 issued Sep. 30, 1997; this application is also acontinuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/179,481 filed Oct. 27,1998, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/646,539 filedMay 8, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,828,318 issued Oct. 27, 1998. Each ofsaid U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,673,037, 5,828,318 and 5,942,987 is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of radio frequency tagging. Morespecifically, the invention relates to a radio frequency tagging systemthat is capable of simultaneously writing information onto large groupsof tags.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A radio frequency (RF) identification system consists of an RF basestation and one or RF tags. In a typical configuration, the base station(also referred to as a reader) has a computer section which issuescommands to an RF transmitter and receives commands from an RF receiver.The commands serve to identify tags present in the RF field or range ofthe base station. In some implementations, base station commands existto gather (read) tag information from the tags after the tags in thefield are identified. In more advanced systems, once the tags in thefield are identified, base station commands exist which output (write)information to the tags. This output information may be held temporarilyon the tag, it may remain until over written, or it may remainpermanently on the tag.

The RF transmitter of the base station encodes the command from thecomputer section. The encoded command is then modulated from a base bandsignal on the radio (carrier) frequency. The modulated carrier isamplified by the base station and passed to a base station RF antennafor transmission to one or more RF tags in the base station field. Thetags transmit or reflect a return signal back to the base station,sometimes with tag information encoded on the return signal by the tags.The base station RF receiver gathers (reads) the return signal at thebase station RF antenna, demodulates the return signal from the RFcarrier frequency to the base band, decodes the base band signal, andpasses the decoded base band signal (information) back to the computersection for processing. The base station antenna sends RF signals to andreceives RF (return) signals from one or more tags within the RF signalrange. The tags within the range of the RF carrier frequency are said tobe in the field of the base station. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,463 toAnders et al. entitled LIMIS Systems, Devices and Methods, issued onApr. 7, 1987 which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In these prior art systems, the base station must identify some or allof the tags in the field of the base station (reader) before any datacan be written to any of the tags in the field. In one prior art system,tags are temporarily turned off (deactivated) once the tags aresuccessfully identified by the reader. After a period of time, e.g.approximately 10 minutes, the deactivated tags can be reactivated. SeeEP 0 494 114 to Marsh et al. filed on Mar. 1, 1992 and entitled“Electronic Identification System” which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS WITH THE PRIOR ART

Many applications of radio frequency identification tags require writinginformation onto large groups of tags as they pass (within the field of)a radio frequency identification system reader (base station). In priorart radio frequency identification systems, the reader must identify thetags in the field before the reader can write to any of the identifiedtags in the field.

In applications where there are many tags in the field at the same time,many prior art techniques fail to identify all the tags in the field. Inthese cases, some prior art systems fail to write information to any ofthe tags in the field. In other prior art systems, the unidentified tagscan not be written to.

Even if all tags in the field are identified, existing radio frequencyidentification systems can take too much time to write to all the tagsin the field requiring written information. For example, if there areten tags requiring written information in a field of 10,000 tags, all ofthe 10,000 tags have to be identified by some prior art systems beforethe information can be written to the ten tags. Identifying this in manytags can be time consuming or impossible for most prior art systems. Asanother example, if there are 100 or more tags in the field, priorsystems require a long period of time—seconds to minutes—to identify andwrite to the appropriate tags. For these systems, the tags must bestationary in the base station field or move very slowly through thebase station field.

The prior art has the capability to read and write and read after write.However, as stated above, the prior art requires that the tags identifythemselves to the base station before the base station canread/write/read to the tags. Many commercially available systems, e.g.available from Texas Instruments and Indala, must sequentially identifythe tags in the field before writing to the tags. These systems areunable to identify and therefore unable to write to large numbers oftags moving through the field of the base station. Other commerciallyavailable systems, e.g. available from Hughes, Micron, and David SarnoffResearch center system, and even systems described in the literature,e.g. by CSIR and Single Chip Systems, can identify more than one item inthe field at a time. However, these systems must identify all the tagsin the field before they can write to them. Identifying all the tags inthe field can be very time consuming. Further, where there are a verylarge number of tags in the field or the tags are passing quicklythrough the field, these systems fail to identify all of the tags andtherefore fail to perform the write operation.

These and other prior art limitations make RF tags unsuitable for use inmany applications.

For many applications where tags pass quickly through the base stationfield—such as identifying items on a high-speed manufacturing line—priorart radio frequency identification systems are either unable or too slowto write to tags in the field. The prior art requires that themanufacturing process change, e.g., a manufacturing line must slow down,in order to use RF tag technology.

Prior art systems also can not effectively write to very large numbersof tags in the base station field. For example, a transit applicationmight have a large number of tagged items in a tagged container. To logthe movement of a container and the contents within the container, theprior art must identify all the tags in the container as well as thecontainer itself. Data might then be sequentially written to some or allof the identified tags. Some prior art will fail to identify, hencewrite to, all of the tags. Using other prior art techniques, thecontainer might be required to pause in the field to allow enough timeto identify and sequentially write to all of the tags in the field. Thispause may cause an undesirable delay in the movement of the container.

In summary, many systems described in the prior art fail to effectivelywrite to large numbers of tags in the field because some prior art cannot identify the individual tags before sequentially writing to thetags. Even those systems that are capable of identifying and writing tolarge numbers of tags in the field are slow because the serialidentification and writing processes takes an unacceptably long amountof time. Therefore these prior art systems are unacceptable for manyapplications.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

An object of this invention is an improved system and method of writinginformation to all radio frequency tags in a base station field and/orsub groups of the tags in the base station field.

An object of this invention is an improved system and method ofsimultaneously writing information to groups and/or sub groups of largenumbers of radio frequency tags in a base station field.

An object of this invention is an improved system and method fordetermining which tags in a field of radio frequency tags have beenwritten to successfully and/or unsuccessfully.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present system and method embodies a write broadcast protocol thatpermits a base station to write sent data to all or some selected number(sub group) of tags in the base station field simultaneously. Byunselecting the tags that have been successfully written to, andrequesting a response from the remaining tags in the field (or subgroup), the system determines, by receiving a response to the request,that there are tags in the field (sub group) that were unsuccessfullywritten to.

One preferred embodiment of the system has a plurality of radiofrequency tags, each tag having a tag logic, a tag antenna, and a tagdata location. The base station has a signal generator, a transmitter,and a base antenna. The signal generator sends a carrier signal throughthe transmitter and base antenna to create a field. The signal generatorgenerates sent data that the transmitter encodes on the carrier signal.All of the tags in the field simultaneously receive the carrier signalthrough their respective tag antennas. The tag logic of each tag in thefield responds to the carrier signal by decoding the sent data from thecarrier signal and storing the sent data in the respective tag datalocation. In this way, the sent data is simultaneously written to thetag data location of each tag in the field (sub group) in response tothe one carrier signal. No tag identification is required prior to thesimultaneous writing to more than one tag. The system is useful for“stamping” information on the tag memory. The carrier signal can beperiodically send so that any number of tags (or sub groups) aresimultaneous “stamped” when they pass into the field of the basestation.

In an alternative preferred embodiment, the radio frequency taggingsystem includes a plurality of radio frequency tags, each tag having atag logic and a tag antenna and each tag further having one or more tagdata locations referred to through an associated tag data address. Inthis embodiment, the base station has a computer, a transmitter, and abase antenna. A process executed by the computer causes a radiofrequency write broadcast signal, with an encoded sent data and a sentaddresses corresponding to the sent data, to be sent through thetransmitter and base antenna to create a field. The tags in the fieldreceive the write broadcast signal through their tag antennas and thetag logic of each tag in the field causes the sent data to be stored inthe tag data location that has a tag data address matching the sentaddress. Thus in response to a single write broadcast command signal,all the tags in the field write the sent data to their tag data locationthat corresponds to tag data address matching the sent address. Byselecting a sub group of tags in the field, only the tags selected to bein the sub group can be made to respond to the write broadcast commandsignal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one preferred embodiment of thepresent invention including a base station communicating with a largecollection of radio frequency identification tags.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an alternative preferred embodiment ofthe present invention including a base station communicating with alarge collection of radio frequency identification tags and/or one ormore sub groups of the collection of RF tags in a base station field.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one preferred embodiment of tag logicand tag memory in a preferred radio frequency tag.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the steps of a preferred method performedby the tag logic.

FIG. 5 is a state diagram showing the states of one preferred RF tag.

FIG. 6 shows two flow charts: FIG. 6A shows the steps performed by thebase station in FIG. 1 and FIG. 6B shows the steps performed by the tagsin the base station field of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 7 shows the steps of alternative processes performed by the basestation in FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of one preferred embodiment of identifying tagsin the field that have failed to correctly process a write broadcastsignal sent from the base station.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the present system used in variousapplications.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an alternative preferred embodiment ofselecting and unselecting tags in the field along with sending writebroadcast signals to the field.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio frequency tagging system 100 thatincludes a radio frequency base station 105 with an optional computer108, a transmitter or transponder 106, and a base antenna 110. Arepeater 104 causes a radio frequency signal 140 to be broadcast to afield of tags 120 by using the transmitter 106 and base antenna 110. Therepeater 104 is an apparatus that causes sent data 145 stored in amemory 107 to be broadcasted at predetermined times, e.g. every 2minutes. In one preferred embodiment, the repeater 104 is a timer thatinputs the sent data 145 stored in memory 107 to the transmitter 106 atthe predetermined times. If a computer 108 is provided, the repeater 104can be implemented as a process performed by the computer 108.

The field of the base station 120 includes the physical space in whichthe radio frequency signal 140 is propagated by the transmitter 106 andbase station antenna 110. The radio frequency signal 140 carries thesent data 145. For example, the sent data 145 is impressed on the radiofrequency signal 140 using well known modulation techniques.

One or more radio frequency tags 130 are typically located within thefield 120. The tags 130 have a tag memory 136, a tag radio frequencycomponent 134, and a tag antenna 132. The tag radio frequency component134 receives (and sends) signals 140 through the tag antenna 132.Examples of preferred RF tags 130 are given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,222(application Ser. No. 08/303,977) to Moskowitz et al. filed on Sep. 9,1994 and issued on Jun. 18, 1996, which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety.

Note that while this disclosure specifically address tags using radiofrequencies to communicate with the base station, the invention alsoapplies generally to any communication system where a base unitcommunicates with one or more transponders, e.g., tags. Thecommunication means is not limited to radio frequency but includes anymedia for communicating information, i.e., laser, infrared, visiblelight (photo optics), ultraviolet, magnetics, and/or otherelectromagnetic media. For each of these communications means, thetransmitter 106 base station antenna 110, tag antenna 132, and tagreceiver 134 are apparatus suitable for the respective means ofcommunication. These apparatus are well known.

An alternative preferred system 200 is shown in the block diagram inFIG. 2. In this embodiment, features that are common with those insystem 100 have the same numbers. A computer 108 is used in system 200and the repeating component 104 is replaced by a Write Broadcast process204 executed by the computer 108. The base station 105 includes atransmitter 106 as before. Here an RF receiver 206 is optionallyincluded. In this embodiment, the sent data 145 is included in a datapackage 250 that includes a sent address 245. A Write Broadcastcommand/instruction 260 is optionally included in the data package 250.The sent address 245 corresponds to the sent data 145. In alternativeembodiments, pairs 248 of sent data 145 and a corresponding sent address245 are included in the data package 250.

Note that the sent data 145 could be comprised of a plurality of dataunits, e.g. a string or stream of bits or bytes, that are stored at atag data location 270 starting or ending at a single sent address 245corresponding to a related tag data address 275 in the tag memory 236.Alternatively, the sent address 145 could be absent, implying that thefirst or last data unit of the string is always stored in the tag datalocation 270 with a fixed tag data address 275 in the tag memory 236.Alternatively, a single sent data 145 could be stored at multiple tagdata locations 270 each with a sent address 245 each corresponding to atag memory address 275 in the tag memory 236. Alternatively, the sentdata 145 could be absent, implying that a predetermined fixed string ofdata, e.g. a value of zero or nine, will be stored in the tag datalocation 270 with a tag data address or addresses 275 in the tag memory236 that correspond to the sent address or addresses 245. Alternatively,the sent data 145 and the sent address 245 both could be absent, wherethe write command 260 causes all tag data locations 270 to have apredetermined value.

The tag 230 has a tag antenna 132 and a tag receiver that receives thesignal 140 (carrying the data package 250) as in system 100. However,the tag 230 also includes a tag logic 238 and a tag memory 236 that hasmore than one tag data location 270. Each tag data location 270 has atag data address 275 corresponding to the respective tag data location270. In this preferred embodiment, the tag 230 receives signal 140 (datapackage 250) through the tag antenna 132 and tag receiver 134. The taglogic 238 optionally identifies the data package 250 as a writebroadcast command (using command field 260) and places the sent data 145of the data package 250 in the tag data location 270 corresponding tothe tag data address 275 that is the same as the sent address 245 in thedata package 250. If the data package 250 has more than one pair 248 ofsend data and sent addresses 245, the tag logic 238 places each of thesent data 145 in the tag data location 270 that corresponds to the tagdata address 275 that is the same as the respective sent address 245 ofthe pair 248 in the data package 250. (See below for a furtherdescription of the tag logic 238.)

In frequent applications of the invention, it is necessary for the basestation to write the same information (sent data 145) to all the tagsphysically located in the field 120 of the base station 105. The sentdata 145 is written to all tags 230 (or a sub group of tags 230) in thefield simultaneously. Simultaneous writing means that two or more tags(130, 230) in the field 120 write sent data 145 to the tag memory 236 inresponse to a single Write Broadcast command. No other commands need tobe sent for the sent data 145 to be written to all (or all in thesubgroup) of the tags in the field. This can occur because no tags inthe field need to be identified before this writing takes place.

In a typical application, such as identifying items at a receiving dock,many items, perhaps hundreds or even thousands, may be presented to thebase station (reader) 105 by being in the field 120 at a given time.Examples of sent data 145 include date or time stamps that mightindicate when a tag arrives or passes by a location, is purchased, etc.or location information that identifies a place where a tag is currentlylocated or passing or is to be sent.

One novel feature of this invention is that the base station 105 canwrite information (sent data 145) to a plurality of tags 130 in thefield 130 simultaneously without identifying each of the tags 130/230 inthe field 140. This feature significantly reduces the time tocommunicate the information to the tags. This also enables “stamping”large numbers of tags in applications that were impossible to performprior to this invention because of the time required by the prior art tocommunicate (and identify) all the tags in the base station field 140.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one preferred embodiment of tag logicand tag memory in a preferred radio frequency tag. The block diagram 300shows the tag logic 238 and the tag memory 236.

The tag logic 238 receives a signal from the tag receiver 134. Thesignal can include a Group Select command 322 (optional), a GroupUnselect command 324 (optional), a Write Broadcast command 326(optional), an Any Tag command 328 (optional), and any other optionalcommand 329. The Command Decode block 310, decodes the received signal302 from the tag receiver 134 to determine the command type.

Group Select 322 and Group Unselect 324 commands are used to select(unselect) sub groups of tags in the field of tags. The selected(unselected) tags are those that respond (do not respond) to furthercommands sent by the base station 105. Group Select 322 and GroupUnselect commands are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/303,965 entitled System and Method for Radio Frequency Tag GroupSelect to Cesar et al. filed on Sep. 29, 1995 which is hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

The Write Broadcast 326 command is decoded in block 310 by identifyingthat the received signal 302 has a Write Broadcast field 260 with aWrite Broadcast command code. When the Write Broadcast command 326 isdecoded, a tag state machine 330 processes the sent data 145 and sentaddress 245 using an Address/Data Decoder 340. The tag state machine 330(and alternative embodiments) are described in the FIG. 5 (FIG. 4)description below.

Note that in some preferred embodiments, the tag will only have a WriteBroadcast 326 function. In these embodiments, the tag will write sentdata 145 in a sent address 245 of any write command to the tag memory236. Upon receiving a write command, this embodiment, implementedwithout a command decode block 310 and the tag state machine 330, willload the sent data 145 into the data location 270 with the data address275 that matches the sent address (342, 245).

The Address/Data Decode 340 provides the Tag State Machine 330 with thesent data 145 and sent address 245 that is encoded on the receivedsignal 302 over the respective Sent Data Bus 344 and Sent Address Bus342. The Tag State Machine 330 processes this information by sending aWrite command over a Write Bus 368 to a Control Section 390 of the tagmemory 236. The Control Section 390 causes the sent data 145 to bewritten to the tag data location 270 that corresponds to the tag address275 that matches the sent address 245. The sent data 145 and sentaddress 245 are provided to the Tag Memory 236 over a respective DataBus 362 and Address Bus 364 connecting the Tag State Machine 330 and theTag Memory 236. If information is to be read from the Tag Memory 236,the information (Tag Data Location 270) is accessed using thecorresponding Tag Data Address 275 and the Control Section 390 to passthe information in Tag Data Location 270 over a Read Bus 366 to the TagState Machine 330. The Tag State Machine 330 then passes the readinformation to the Tag Transmitter 234 to be sent to the base station105 through the tag antenna 132.

The Any Tag command 328 is an optional command. Any tag 230 thatreceives the Any Tag command 328 sends a response to the base station.This command 328 is useful in determining whether there is one or moretags in the base station field and/or one or more members of a selected(or unselected) group of tags. In alternative preferred embodiments, thetag response is sent out by any tag selected by a Group Select command322 and the Any Tag command 328 may be omitted.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the steps of one preferred process 400performed by the Tag State Machine 330. In this embodiment, the TagLogic 238 could be a micro computer executing a program performing theprocess 400. Alternatively, the Tag Logic 238 could be a logic circuitperforming the steps of process 400.

The process 400 receives a command from the command decode block 310.The process begins by determining 415 whether the tag is in theinitialized or active state. The tag 230 reacts differently to certaincommands depending on the state of the tag.

If the tag 230 is in the initialized state 417, the process 400 checkswhat type of command was received. If a Group Select command 322 isreceived 421, the tag state is changed to active 435. If a GroupUnselect 422, Write Broadcast 423, Any Tag 424, or Other (like Read) 425command is received, no action 430 is taken. If the tag has a powersupply that is lost and/or the base station has lost power and sends apower loss signal 426, no action 430 is taken in the initialized state417 of the tag. Note that the commands 421-426 can be processed in anyorder.

If the tag 230 is in the active state 418, the process 400 again checkswhat type of command was received. If a Power Loss 441 or Group Unselect442 command is received, the tag state is changed to initialized 455. Ifa Group Select command 322 is received 443, the no action 430 is taken.If an Any Tag 328 command is received 444, the tag sends a response tothe base station 460. If an Other (like Read) 329 command is received445, the tag performs the appropriate response. If the Write Broadcastcommand 326 is received 446, the sent data 344 is stored at the datalocation 270 with the data address 275 equal to the sent address 342(step 470.) No action 430 is taken in step 446 if there is no WriteBroadcast. Note that the commands 441-446 can be processed in any order.

In an alternative preferred embodiment, e.g. using the tag 130 shown insystem 100, the tag 130 can have a process 400 comprising, only steps445, 465, 446 and 470. In this case, the Other command 445 would be aRead command and the Other Response 465 would permit the base station105 to read the data in the tag memory. The Write Broadcast command 446would direct the tag to store the sent data 145 in the tag 130 memory136. Other embodiments are made by using various combinations of GroupSelect 322, Group Unselect 324, Write Broadcast 326, Any Tag 328, andOther 329 commands.

FIG. 5 is a state diagram of one preferred embodiment a state machine500 used as block 330. The state machine 500 in the RF tag 230 usesvarious states to execute commands from the command decode 310.

The state machine 500 has two states: the initialized state 517 and theactive state 518. A power loss (either on board the tag for tags withpower or a power loss signal sent by the base station) causes the tag230 to transfer 510 to the initialize 517 state. This transfer 510happens if there is a power loss 510 in either the initialized state517, the active state 518, and/or during any action performed by the tag230. If the tag 230 is in the initialized state 517 and receives a WriteBroadcast or Any Tag command, the tag 230 remains (515 and 520respectively) in the initialized state 517. If a tag 230 in theinitialized state 517 is selected by a Group Select command 322, theselected tag is transferred 525 to its active state 518. If a tag 230 inthe active state 518 is unselected by a Group Unselect command 324, theunselected tag transfers 530 to its initialized state 517.

If the tag 230 is in the active state 518 and receives a Write Broadcast326 command, the tag writes 570 the sent data 344 to the tag datalocation 270 with the tag data address 275 equal to the sent address 342(see 546) and returns to the active state 518. However, if the tag isbusy when the Write Broadcast 326 command is received, the sent data 344is not written 570 and the tag returns to the active state 518. Forexample, this situation might occur when the tag is responding to an AnyTag command 328 when the Write Broadcast command 326 is received. In analternative preferred embodiment, the base station sends a command andreceives a response from one or more tags before sending a secondcommand. This prevents the tag being busy when the Write Broadcast 326command is received.

If the tag 230 is in the active state 518 and receives an Any Tagcommand 328 (or Other command 329—not shown), the tag responds 560 tothe base station and returns to the active state 518. However, if thetag is busy when the Any Tag command 328 (Other command 329) is 328received, the tag does not respond and the tag returns to the activestate 518. For example, this situation might occur when the tag isresponding to a Read command when the Any Tag command 328 is received.Again, in an alternative preferred embodiment, the base station waitsfor a tag response before sending out a second command.

FIG. 6A is a flow chart showing the steps performed by the base stationin FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the base station 105 broadcasts 610 asignal with sent data 145 simultaneously to all tags 130 in the field120. No identification of the tags 130 is done. The broadcast 610 isoptionally repeated any number of times.

FIG. 6B shows the steps performed by the tags 130 in the base stationfield 120 of FIGS. 1 and 2. Upon receiving 660 the sent data 145 thatthe base station 105 broadcasts, all the tags 130 in the fieldsimultaneously write 665 the sent data 145 to their respective tagmemory 136.

Optionally, in step 668, the tag logic 238 uses a compare circuit 239(see FIG. 2) to compare if the sent data 145 is different than the datastored (old data) in the tag data location 270 associated with the tagdata address 275 in the tag memory 236 that corresponds to the sentaddress 245. If the sent data 145 is different than the old data, thetag logic 238 writes 665 the sent data 145 in the tag data location 270associated with the tag data address 275 in the tag memory 236corresponding to the sent address 245 and the tag sends a responsethrough the tag antenna to the base station 105. If the sent data 145 isthe same as the old data, the tag sends no response. In this way, thebase station 105 will receive a response if sent data 145 is written toat least one tag in the field 120. Optionally, if the sent data 145 isthe same as the old data, the writing 665 can be omitted.

Optionally, the tag 130 can send to the base station 105 informationrelating to the results of the execution of a command or commands, e.g.260, and/or provide information about error conditions resulting fromthe execution of a command or commands sent from the base station 105.

FIG. 7 shows the steps performed by alternative preferred processes 700in the base station of system 200 in FIG. 2.

In step 710, all the tags 230 in the field 120 are selected.

Alternatively, subgroups of tags in the field 120 are selected. This isdone by using the Group Select and/or Group Unselect commands.

Step 710 is optional.

In optional step 715, a Group Unselect command is issued by the basestation to unselect (transfer to the initialize state) tags that havetag data values equal to the sent data 145 in the tag memory location270 that corresponds (e.g. is the same as) the sent address 245. In onepreferred embodiment this is done to prevent tags with correctly writtendata from writing again so tag power consumption and the risk of writingerroneous data is reduced.

Once the tags are selected (if this is done), the base station 105broadcasts 720 a signal with sent data 145, a sent address 245, andoptionally the Write Broadcast command 260, simultaneously to all tags130 in the field 120. No identification of the tags 130 is done.

Upon receiving 720 the sent data 145 and the sent address 245 that thebase station 105 broadcasts, all the tags 130 in the fieldsimultaneously write 665 the sent data 145 to their respective taglocation 270 that has the data address 275 equal to the sent address245.

Steps 710 and 720 (or step 720 alone) are optionally repeated 725 anynumber of times.

In addition, steps 727 and 729 may be optionally performed. In step 727,the base station 105 listens (monitors) for a response 668 from one ormore tags in the field 120 to indicate that sent data was not written toat least one tag. If a response is received, the base station 105re-broadcasts (retransmits) 729 the sent data 145 and sent address 245again.

The response is generated by the tag 130 when the tag logic 238 comparesthe sent data 344 to the data stored in the tag data location 270 in thetag memory 236 to confirm that the write was correctly performed. Thetag responds if the comparison is not equal.

Repeating (615, 725) the steps is useful in applications where taggedobjects are to be written to continually and/or randomly pass throughthe field 120 of the base station. For example, tagged articles on aconveyer belt are “time stamped” with the date of manufacture or givenan article identification number as they pass through the base stationfield 120. The base station repeats (615, 725) the write broadcastsignal at a high enough frequency to insure that every article passingthrough the field 120 receives at least one write broadcast signal. Inalternative embodiments, a base station 105 continually sends out writebroadcast signals (repeats 615, 725) so that any tag that happens to bewithin the field 120 has certain information written to it. For example,a base station 105 on a loading dock repeats (615, 725) a writebroadcast signal that has location information (time) as sent data 145.In this example, any tag that may be located on the dock will have thelocation recorded in the tag memory (136, 236). This information can beread later to determine point of origin, routing, etc. of the object towhich the tag is attached.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of one preferred process 800 for identifying tagsin the field that have failed to correctly process a write broadcastsignal sent from the base station. This is a way to verify the successof a given Write Broadcast command. If the Write Broadcast command isunsuccessful for one or more tags, e.g. one or more tags failed todetect that the Write Broadcast command was sent, another WriteBroadcast command can be sent to write to the tags that failed to bewritten to. Process 800 is optional and can be executed with process700.

Process 800 begins by issuing an Unselect command 810. The Unselectcommand unselects tags 230 in the field 120 that have the sent data 145in their tag data location 270 that has a tag data address 275 equal tothe sent address 245. These tags 230 are now initialized (415, 517) andwill not respond in step 830.

The system determines if there was a failure of one or more tags in thefield to write the sent data 145 to the tag data location 270 with thetag data address 275 corresponding to the sent address 245. In oneembodiment, this occurs in the execution of step 810 where the tag isdesigned to automatically respond to an Unselect Command if the tag isnot Unselected, i.e., the tag does not have the sent data 145 in theproper tag data location 270. In an alternative embodiment, tags thathave sent data 145 in their tag data location 270 that corresponds to(e.g. equals) the sent address 245 are unselected by an Unselect commandand then an Any Tag (or similar) command is issued by the base stationto cause tags without sent data 145 in the proper tag data location 270to respond.

In addition, to write to all tags (or a subset of the tags) in the field120, steps 810 and 820 can be performed by the base station 105 issuinga Select command that selects tags 230 with data not equal to the sentdata 145 in their data location 270 with a data address 275corresponding to (e.g. equal to) the sent address 245. This commandplaces or again places the selected tags 230 in the active (415, 518)state. In some preferred embodiments, this automatically causes the tag230 to send a response 830.

In any case, the tags with data not equal to the sent data 145 in theirdata location 270 with a data address 275 equal to the sent address 245respond in step 830. If the base station 105 detects a response, theWrite Broadcast signal is (optionally) repeated, e.g. see process 700.If there is no received response from the tags in the field 120, eitherthere are no tags in the field or all have been successfully written to.Therefore, the process ends 840.

Using processes 600, 650, or 700 and optionally 800, enables thesesystems (100, 200) to write to very large number of tags (130, 230) in afield 120 with very few (or even one) Write Broadcast signal. Therefore,large number of tags (130, 230) can be written to with the sameinformation very quickly.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the present system used in various nonlimiting applications. Applications of the invention include writinginformation to tags that are moving through the base station 105 field120 and/or writing information to large numbers of tags that are withinthe field 120 during a given time period. For example, objects 905 inthe field 120 are tagged with tags (typically 130, 230). The taggedobjects 905 pass through the field 120 by being transported on variouslocomotive apparatus, e.g., conveyer belts/assembly lines 910,cars/trucks 915, carts 930. Tagged people or animals 950 can also movethrough the field 120. Large numbers of tagged objects 905 can exist incontainers/crates (920, 925) and/or in temporary storage locations 945like warehouses or cargo bays of ships/planes. Tags (130, 230) inmetallic crates (920, 925), containers (e.g. trucks or railroad cars915), or objects can be written to using Frequency Selective Windows 940as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/521,902 filed onAug. 31, 1995 to Afzali-Ardakani et al. which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety.

Various types of information, i.e. sent data 145, can be written to tagdata locations 270. The base station can establish that certain dataaddresses 275 of the tag 230 contain a certain type of information intheir associated data location 270, i.e., tag data 270 (sent data 145.)For example, data address 275 number 5 (6 and 7, respectively) cancorrespond to the time (date and location, respectively.) The basestation 105 can write information to each of these respective datalocations 270 by issuing a Write Broadcast command with the sent address245 equal to the data address 275 of the predesignated data location 270for each sent data 145 to be written to the tag 230. Using multipleWrite Broadcast commands, the base station 105 can write differentinformation (sent data 145) to specific data locations 270 in the tagmemories 236. Examples of sent data 145 written to the data locations270 include: object 905 status and identity, pricing, payment, object905 history, location, time, date, tracking information, handlinginstructions, and object 905 use and compatibility.

For example, for manufactured items passing through the field 120 on anassembly line 910, the base station sent data 145 can be identificationinformation like: UPC, serial, batch, and/or manufacturer identificationnumbers that identify the objects 905. Sent data 145 can be descriptiveinformation like: dye lot of fabric, cost, price, inspection number,and/or hazardous material codes. Sent data 145 can be use informationlike: expiration dates, associated assembly and subassembly informationrecycling information, cleaning instructions, and/or compatibility withother parts/materials. Sent data 145 can be tracking and locationinformation like point of origin, destination(s) (e.g. of mail orpackages), time and date, responsible contact, and/or person handling.Sent data 145 can be status information indicating that the object 905is paid for, tested, inventoried, number of uses, number of cleanings,etc. Sent data can be handling instructions like: when to clean, ways todispose, where to ship for maintenance, etc.

FIG. 10 shows the steps performed by an alternate preferred process 1000in the base station of system 200 in FIG. 2.

In step 1010, a group select command is issued by the base station toselect a subset of the tags 230 in the field 120. Selected tags aremoved from the initialize state 517 to the active state 518. Only activetags respond to subsequent commands.

In step 1010, the subset of tags can optionally be all the tags, if thebase station issues the appropriate group select command. In step 1010,the subset of tags can optionally be increased or decreased by issuing asequence of group select and group unselect commands.

In step 1020, a group unselect command is issued by the base station totransfer to the initialize state those active tags that have tag datavalues equal to the sent data 145 in the tag memory location 270 thatcorresponds to the sent address 245.

Step 1020 is optional. By moving tags with already correct data in thetag data memory back to the initialize state 517, the subsequent writebroadcast command 250 will be ignored for those tags. Step 1020 thus hasthe effect of avoiding unnecessary tag memory write operations. Theutility of this step includes, but is not limited to, the following:

-   -   1) For tags where each write command consumes a limited power        resource, step 1020 avoids unnecessary tag power consumption.    -   2) For tags which can tolerate only a limited number of memory        write operations, step 1020 avoids unnecessary tag memory wear.    -   3) For tags where write operations have the possibility of        error, step 1020 avoids the possibility of overwriting good data        with bad data.

In step 1020, tags with tag data values not equal to the send data 145in the tag memory location 270 corresponding to the sent address 245respond to the base station 105.

In step 1030, the base station receiver 206 distinguishes between thecase of no tags responding and the case of one or more tags responding.

If no tags respond, all active tags had tag data values equal to sentdata and were moved to the initialize state 517 in step 1020. In step1035, processing is therefore complete with no errors.

If one or more tags respond, step 1040 is performed. The write broadcastcan be performed one or more times, determined by a tries parametertracked by the base station computer 108.

If all tries have been consumed, step 1045 reports that processing iscomplete with errors. The active tags are those with errors. They can besubjected to further processing to determine and correct the error.

If not all tries have been performed, step 1050 indicates that the basestation 105 broadcasts a signal 250 with sent data 145, a sent address245, and the write broadcast command 260.

Upon receiving the write broadcast signal 250, all the active tags 130simultaneously write the sent data 145 to the sent address 245 in thetag data memory 236.

Step 1060 is identical to step 1020. A group unselect causes correctlywritten tags to move back to the initialize state, and tags notcorrectly written to remain in the active state and respond.

From step 1060, the process moves back to step 1030, repeating theprocess until either all tags are correctly written or until all triesare consumed.

Optionally, from step 1060, the process can move back to step 1010. Thatis, before the unselect of step 1020, the entire subset can again beselected. Going to either step has advantages in certain applications.For example:

-   -   1) In an application where speed is important, going to step        1020 saves the time required to select the subgroup for each        try.    -   2) In an application where tags 230 are continuously entering        the field 120, going to step 1010 will select new tags 230 as        they enter the field 120 and include them in the write broadcast        process 1050.

Given this disclosure, equivalent embodiments of this invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art. These embodiments are also with inthe contemplation of the inventors.

1. A transponder comprising: a transponder memory having a transponderdata location with a data value; and a transponder receiver forreceiving a broadcasted signal not associated with said transponder, thesignal having sent data and the receiver writing the sent data to thetransponder data location, the transponder sending a response if thesent data is different than the data value and not sending a response ifthe sent data is the same as the data value.
 2. A radio frequency tagcomprising: a tag antenna for receiving a radio frequency signal from abase station, the radio frequency signal having sent data; a tag memoryhaving a tag data location; a tag logic having a selected state and anon-selected state, one or more selection commands placing the tag inthe selected state if the tag meets one or more selection conditions;and a tag receiver for receiving the radio frequency signal from the tagantenna; the tag writing the sent data to the tag data location if thetag is in the selected state and the tag not writing the sent data tothe tag data location if the tag is in the non-selected state.
 3. Aradio frequency tag, as in claim 2, where writing the sent data occursin the tag without the tag sending a response containing a tagidentifier.
 4. A radio frequency tag, as in claim 2, where the tagfurther comprises a decoder that decodes a further command that causesthe tag to communicate a response when the tag is in the selected stateand that causes the tag not to communicate a response when the tag is inthe non-selected state.
 5. A radio frequency tag comprising: a tagantenna for receiving a radio frequency signal from a base station, theradio frequency signal having zero or more sent data and zero or moresent addresses corresponding to the sent data; a tag memory having oneor more tag data locations, each tag data location having a respectivetag data address; a tag receiver for receiving the radio frequencysignal from the tag antenna; and a tag logic having a selected state anda non-selected state, one or more selection commands placing the tag inthe selected state if the tag meets one or more selection conditions;and the tag logic writing each of the sent data in the tag data locationwith the tag data address corresponding to the respective sent addressif the tag is in the selected state and the tag not writing any of thesent data if the tag is in the non-selected state.
 6. A base station forcommunicating with zero or more tags in a field of the base station,each of the tags having a tag memory, the base station comprising: asignal generator that develops a signal containing a sent data; a basestation transmitter that encodes the signal on the carrier to create anencoded signal; and a base station antenna that transmits the encodedsignal to two or more tags in the field causing the tags tosimultaneously write the sent data into the tag memory.
 7. A basestation, as in claim 6, where the sent data includes any one of thefollowing types of information: object identification, objectdescription, object use, object tracking, object location, objectstatus, and object handling.
 8. A base station for communicating withzero or more radio frequency tags in a field of the base station, eachof the tags having a tag memory, the tag memory having one or more tagdata locations and each of the tag data locations having a tag dataaddress, the base station comprising: a computer that develops one ormore selection commands and a write broadcast signal, the writebroadcast signal containing zero or more write broadcast commands, zeroor more sent data and zero or more sent addresses; a base stationtransmitter that encodes the one or more selection commands on a radiofrequency carrier to create a selection signal and encodes the writebroadcast signal on the radio frequency carrier to create a writesignal; and the base station transmitting the selection signal to allthe tags in the field to select a subgroup of the tags, and transmittingthe write signal to simultaneously write each of the sent data to thetag data locations having tag data addresses corresponding to the sentaddresses.
 9. A radio frequency tagging system, as in claim 8, where thetags not in the selected subgroup do not respond to the write broadcastsignal.
 10. A radio frequency tagging system comprising: zero or moreradio frequency tags, each tag having a tag logic, a tag antenna, and atag data location; and a base station having a signal generator, atransmitter, and a base antenna, the signal generator sending a carriersignal through the transmitter and the base antenna to create a field,the transmitter encoding sent data generated by the signal generatoronto the carrier signal to produce an encoded carrier signal, zero ormore tags in the field receiving the carrier signal through theirrespective tag antennas and the tag logic of each tag in the fielddecoding the sent data and causing the sent data to be simultaneouslywritten to the respective tag data location.
 11. A radio frequencytagging system comprising: zero or more radio frequency tags, each taghaving a tag logic and a tag antenna and each tag further having one ormore tag data locations associated with a tag data address; a basestation having a computer, a transmitter, and a base antenna; and aprocess executed by the computer that causes a radio frequency writebroadcast signal to be sent through the transmitter and base antenna tocreate a field, the write broadcast signal having sent data and a sentaddress corresponding to the sent data, one or more tags in the fieldreceiving the write broadcast signal through the tag antenna, and thetag logic of each tag in the field causing the sent data to besimultaneously written to each of the tag data locations that has a tagdata address matching the respective sent address.
 12. A system, as inclaim 11, where the tag logic causes the tag to send a response if thesent data is different than an old data in the tag data location and notsend the response if the sent data is the same as the old data, the basestation resending the encoded carrier signal if a response is receivedfrom one or more of the tags.
 13. A radio frequency tagging system, asin claim 11, where the tags do not all respond to the write broadcastsignal.
 14. A radio frequency tagging system, as in claim 11, where thebase station sends a group selection signal comprising one or more groupselection commands, and one or more of the tags that has an old data inthe tag data location that does not match the sent data sends to thebase station a response to the group selection signal.
 15. A system, asin claim 11, where the sent data includes any one of the following typesof information: object identification, object description, object use,object tracking, object location, object status, and object handling.16. A method performed by a radio frequency tagging system, said methodcomprising the steps of: (a) selecting a subgroup of zero or more tagsin a field of tags by sending one or more selection commands from a basestation, such that only the tags in a selected subgroup are enabled towrite a sent data to a respective tag memory of the tags; (b) sending aradio frequency signal from the base station, the signal having sentdata; and (c) zero or more of the tags in the subgroup being caused bythe radio frequency signal to simultaneously write the sent data to arespective tag memory in the tags of the subgroup.
 17. A methodperformed by a radio frequency tagging system, said method comprisingthe steps of: (a) sending a radio frequency signal from a base stationto a field of zero or more radio frequency tags, the signal having sentdata and sent addresses, each sent address associated with a sent data,and (b) zero or more of the tags in the field being caused by the signalto write the sent data to a tag data location in a tag memory of thezero or more tags, the tag data location having a tag data addressmatching the sent address associated with the respective sent data. 18.A method, as in claim 17, where the tags in the field are caused torespond if a value in a tag data location with the tag data addresscorresponding to the sent address does not match the respective sentdata, and the base station re-sends the radio frequency signal if aresponse is received.
 19. A method, as in claim 17, where there is nosent address for one or more of the sent data, and the respective tagdata locations are pre-assigned.
 20. A method, as in claim 17, wherethere is one sent address that is associated with more than one of thesent data.
 21. A radio frequency tag comprising: a tag antenna forreceiving a radio frequency signal from a base station, the radiofrequency signal having sent data; a tag memory having a tag datalocation; and a tag receiver for receiving the radio frequency signalfrom the tag antenna and writing the sent data to the tag data location;and a tag transmitter for sending a response if the sent data isdifferent than an old data in the tag data location.
 22. A base stationfor communicating with zero or more radio frequency tags in a field ofthe base station, each of the tags having a tag memory, the base stationcomprising: a signal generator for developing a signal containing sentdata; a base station transmitter for encoding the signal with the sentdata on a radio frequency carrier to create an encoded carrier; and abase station antenna for transmitting the encoded carrier to zero ormore tags in the field; the encoded carrier causing the tags tosimultaneously write the sent data into their tag memories without firstsending a tag identifier to the base station.
 23. A radio frequency tagcomprising: a tag antenna for receiving a radio frequency signal from abase station, the radio frequency signal having sent data; a tag memoryhaving a tag data location; a tag logic having a first state and asecond state, a first one or more commands placing the tag in the firststate if the tag meets first one or more conditions and a second one ormore commands placing the tag in the second state if the tag meetssecond one or more conditions, a tag receiver for receiving the radiofrequency signal from the tag antenna, the tag writing the sent data tothe tag data location if the tag is in the first state and the tag notwriting the sent data to the tag data location if the tag is in thesecond state.
 24. A tag, as in claim 23, where writing the sent dataoccurs in the tag without the tag sending a response containing a tagidentifier.
 25. A tag, as in claim 23, where writing the sent datacauses the tag to send a response.
 26. A tag, as in claim 23, wherewriting the sent data causes the tag to send a response if the sent datais different from old data in the tag memory.
 27. A base station forcommunicating with a plurality of tags in a field of the base station,each of the tags having a tag memory, the base station comprising: asignal generator that develops a signal containing a sent data; a basestation transmitter that encodes the signal on the carrier to create anencoded signal; and a base station antenna that transmits the encodedsignal to zero or more tags in the field for causing the tags tosimultaneously write the sent data into their tag memories, sends one ormore group commands that affect tags that have the sent data in theirrespective tag memories, and listens for a response from one or moretags.
 28. A base station, as in claim 27, where the response causes thebase station transmitter to retransmit the encoded signal.
 29. A basestation, as in claim 27, where the response causes the base station togenerate an error code.
 30. A base station for communicating with aplurality of radio frequency tags in a field of the base station, eachof the tags having a tag memory, the tag memory having one or more tagdata locations and each of the tag data locations having a tag dataaddress, the base station comprising a computer that generates one ormore selection commands and a write broadcast signal, the writebroadcast signal containing zero or more write broadcast commands, zeroor more sent data and zero or more sent addresses; a base stationtransmitter that encodes the one or more selection commands on a radiofrequency carrier to create a selection signal and encodes the writebroadcast signal on the radio frequency carrier to create a writesignal; and a base station antenna that transmits the selection signalto all the tags in the field to affect selectively a subgroup of thetags, and transmitting the write signal to simultaneously write each ofthe sent data to the tag data locations having tag data addressescorresponding to the sent addresses.
 31. A method performed by a basestation comprising the steps of: (a) selecting zero or more the tags ina field of tags by issuing one or more selection commands, the selectedtags being in a selected state and the not selected tags being in anon-selected state; (b) causing certain tags to not respond if the valuein each of the tag data locations with tag data addresses correspondingto a sent address are equal to the sent data, and to respond if thevalue in any of tag data locations does not equal the sent data; and (c)issuing a write broadcast command if any response is received to step(b).
 32. A method, as in claim 31, comprising the further step of: (d)repeating steps (b) and (c) until no tags respond.
 33. A method, as inclaim 31, comprising the further step of: (d) repeating steps (b) and(c) until an allowed number of iterations is reached.
 34. A methodperformed by a base station comprising the steps of: (a) selecting zeroor more the tags in a field of tags by issuing one or more selectioncommands, the selected tags being in a selected state and the notselected tags being in a non-selected state. (b) causing certain tags tonot respond if the value in each of the tag data locations with tag dataaddresses corresponding to the sent address is equal to the sent data,and to respond if the value in any of tag data locations does not equalthe sent data; and (c) issuing a write broadcast command if any responseis received to step (b).
 35. A method, as in claim 34, furthercomprising the step of: (d) repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) until notags respond.
 36. A method, as in claim 34, further comprising the stepof: (d) repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) until an allowed number ofiterations is reached.